Facelift for Sydenham pavilion

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For those who remember the Sydenham Cricket clubrooms of the past, a coat of paint and a tidy-up was never going to cut it.

Teams once shared one run-down changing room and were once separated by a thin curtain, making tactical team-talks particularly tricky.

Few expect sporting facilities to be five-star hotels but an away trip to Sydenham was only made bearable by the fact you were only there once or twice a year and you didn't have to call it home.

Of course Sydenham club members were always friendly and the beer was cold and cheap.

For a club that once boasted four players, Stephen Fleming, Lee Germon, Darrin Murray and Blair Hartland, on one Black Caps tour to South Africa, its facilities did not do the club or its people justice.

It's now had more than a spruce-up with nearly half a million dollars spent on upgrading Sydenham Park facilities.

The flash building was officially opened at the weekend and the club's new, first of it's kind electronic scoreboard has been in use for a couple of Saturdays.

The wireless scoreboard links directly to the CricHQ scoring site - run by Sydenham's most famous son, Stephen Fleming - and links to the television screens inside the clubrooms allowing those thirsty fans in the bar the chance to keep an eye on the score and their pint.

"We're rapt," club president Graham Harris said at the official opening.

"It's been a tough time for the club and it's obviously pretty tough to raise funds at the moment, so we're pretty proud of what we've done. We've tried to build something here we can all be proud of now, but we've pushed hard to future-proof it too."